A combination of terrible weather, bad harvests, speculation and 'political drift' has contributed to the end of low food prices, food experts announced today.

Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, and Lord Haskins of Skidby, a farmer and former chairman of Northern Foods, spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today programme to voice their concerns about the woeful state of British food prices.

The pair both agreed that a variety of factors had caused the cost of essentials, such as fruit and vegetables, to rocket.

Many crops were waterlogged after heavy rain during the UK summer, and the price of grain is expected to rocket

The poor harvests will affect the price of animal feed, which will push up the cost of meat

Professor Lang said that bad weather had crippled harvests worldwide, with the UK, America, Russia and Ukraine badly affected by the poor conditions.

This has had a knock on effect on food prices, sending the cost of grains, fruit and vegetables soaring, which has hit the bottom ten per cent of income households.

This was the scene over Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire this morning as the sun rose, highlighting the changing colours of the trees

Politicians need to tackle climate change if they are to solve the problem of bad harvests, Lord Haskins said

Wheat yields fell 14.1 per cent this year on a five-year average to levels last seen in the late 1980s, according to a survey by the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

The figures have been released after the wettest summer in England and Wales for 100 years, with 14.25in (362mm) of rain falling in June, July and August.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has already warned of price 'pressures' following the worst drought in 50 years in the US and a heatwave in Russia.

NO SUMMER WINE: POOR HARVESTS HIT UK VINEYARDS

English sparkling wine producer Nyetimber announced that it would not be harvesting its grapes this year because of the unusually poor weather conditions.

The company, which grows all the grapes for its wines in West Sussex and Hampshire, said the decision had been taken because of its commitment to quality.

Nyetimber winemaker Cherie Spriggs said: 'The decision not to make wine from 2012 is a difficult one, not just for me but for our whole team.

'However, we all know that maintaining quality is paramount.

'My first obligation as the winemaker is to ensure the quality of Nyetimber's wines, and we have collectively come to the decision that the grapes from 2012 cannot deliver the standards we have achieved in the past and will again in the future.'

Guy Gagen, NFU chief combinable crops adviser, said wheat yields were down after abnormally high rainfall across the UK since the early summer.

'The poor UK harvest compounds a series of challenging weather events for farmers around the world, most notably drought in North America,' he said.

'The resulting tight supplies of many feed grains have driven up the prices of agricultural commodities around the world.

'These UK harvest results will do little to alleviate the global dynamics of commodity prices, with the prospect of relatively high commodity levels through to 2013.

'Cereals prices impact directly on other sectors, especially pig and poultry farmers who are already struggling with higher feed costs.'

Richard Dodd, of the BRC, said: 'There certainly are price pressures in the system which are coming from poor wheat harvests in this country but also in the other big wheat producing countries.

'The most recent figures are that wheat prices are up something like 29 per cent compared with a year ago.

'Our own figures for the shop price inflation for food show that it has been very, very stable - it has been 3.1 per cent for the last three months which is actually a two-year low. There is no food price explosion going on but there are pressures in the system that will work through.

'Our fiercely competitive retail market is protecting customers from the worst effects of these price pressures.'

They were not the only ones to speak out about the worrying trend.

According to a survey of its members, The National Farmers' Union faces a bleak harvest this year.

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Bad weather and poor harvests push up food costs and experts say the era of low prices is over